A/N: this is going to be insane

Soo…. by now you guys realized i really love emotion. So, know that when i use plot it is FOR the emotion, not the other way around. Now, knowing this, take my hand, i'm not gonna throw a lord of the rings at you out of the blue, let's go through this together.

(PS: if anyone has questions while reading this, please wait until my comments at the end of the chapter)

And thank you , thank you, thank you Sarah (bergersteen on twitter) and Nicki (notnicorette on twitter) for your amazing help, and for putting up with me :)

The plan wasn't simple.

After the battle of Crait and the near decimation of the Resistance, the rebels didn't have the manpower or the money to organize an attack that would leave even a scratch on the First Order. They needed time, but within their first months of rebuilding and recruitment they realized that if the process remained at that speed, it would take years before they could present a decent threat to the organization that terrified the entire galaxy.

If they managed to create a big enough weapon to aim at the important military assets of their enemy and cripple their forces for good, then they would have a shot at ending the war sooner. Then they could finally free the galaxy. Even the most righteous members of the Resistance had their weak moments when they wished they had a Death Star in their hands to obliterate the First Order. But, well, they didn't have a Death Star.

However, they did have a dying star.

It took a while for Rey to notice it. In between their journeys to abandoned and desolate planets sometimes she would sense…the indescribable. Like a leashed scream pulling on its restraints, stirring up more and more trapped energy. It wasn't until the end of their first year of traveling that Rey pinpointed the source of that immense and expanding disturbance.

The sun.

Looking back, she should have realized it sooner.

Despite belonging to the Unknown Regions, the star that illuminated Sanah's system wasn't inconspicuous. Nyehus was one of the galaxy's known red supergiant stars, and the reason Sanah was the perfect hiding spot. While the planet was still somewhat habitable, its violent stellar winds and heat caused by the sun made it a less than preferable place to live.

And so, Sanah was forgotten. Which was ideal for the rebels, who had to find locations to escape the eyes and ears of the First Order.

There had been no reason to believe anything regarding that sun would change. Because once a star began to die and expand into a giant, they stayed in that state for millions of years. Neyhus had been dying since the eldest member of the Resistance was born, and their father, and their grandfather before that. And it should stay like that for ages to come.

No one expects a catastrophic change until it happens.

"The Jedi Rey senses it right. It seems that Nyehus has begun its neon fusion." Selyne read the datapad in her hands as deep creases formed on her forehead.

Under the watchful eye of the First Order, it had been difficult to find and recruit new analysts whose knowledge was thorough and dangerous enough to be used in war. Selyne was one of them. Luckily for the Resistance, it hadn't been hard to convince a woman who was saved, along with her entire Academy, by a very fortunate field trip during the Hosnian Cataclysm.

The other was her former classmate Tom, who currently tapped at his datapad furiously, unwilling to believe the calculations in front of his eyes.

"No, it can't be possible. It wasn't supposed to end its death cycle for hundreds of-" he said.

"Not necessarily. Nyehus is a big star, it was bound to run out of fuel faster than most we know." Selyne replied.

"Can anyone please explain?" Finn squeaked as the two technicians argued and the rest of the leadership watched and waited for their results.

"Stars are big balls of chemical energy; the fusion of elements that happen in their core is what ultimately allows them to create light-"

Finn made a motion with his hand for them to skip the basics. Selyne looked around to the other faces listening to their explanations and found Leia nodding for them to move to the more crucial parts of their findings.

"Stars have a limited time of life until they die, and their cycle depends on what elements are undergoing fusion in their core, so in big stars like ours it starts with hydrogen then it turns to helium, carbon, neon, oxygen, silicon, iron, then…"

"Boom." Tom said with raised eyebrows.

Rose was biting her nails at this point and Poe rested his hands on his hips with a huff. No advanced knowledge was needed to understand what that explosion meant.

"But you said neon, right? Then, there's time-" Finn started

"Not all stars last long enough to get to iron. They have varying levels of stability. And even if they do last that long, fusion doesn't happen in equal amounts of time for each element. The further the star core is in the cycle, the faster it happens. If we're at neon now that means…" Selyne looked at Tom.

"That means we have from one to three years until it's oxygen, or even less because we don't know when this whole 'phase' started." He indicated the quotation marks with his fingers up in the air as he rolled his eyes. "When we get to oxygen we will have from 3 to 6 months, and after that there's silicon, which leaves us approximately five days until it turns to iron and when it turns to iron, boy. When it turns to iron we have…"

"Seconds. Literally. We will have about ten seconds until our entire system gets caught in the explosion." Selyne continued.

Silence fell over the group as they looked at each other and considered what this meant.

"We need to search for another base, right?" Rose said, lifting her gaze to the other leaders and technicians around her. "We lost Hoth already, and now we will lose Sanah. We need to find another base."

A few heads nodded but Poe furrowed his eyebrows and raised his chin. "Or we could use this."

"Use?" Finn blinked twice.

"You want to use…a supernova?" Rose asked slowly believing she must have heard him wrong.

The dashing pilot looked around them and crossed his arms in front of his chest. "It's like we have a bomb. We just have to lure the First Order here and run away before it blows."

"Assuming we are insanely lucky and the sun doesn't get too unstable before that." Tom interrupted with a tilt of his head. "Did you hear the part where it takes 10 seconds for it to go off?"

Selyne and Leia rolled their eyes, more accustomed to his brashness than the others.

"Yes, but we have a Jedi." He motioned to Rey. "She's the one that…you know-" he gestured around her, "-sensed this. Maybe she can sense when the sun is changing, too, and if there's something wrong. We can use other bases in the meantime, but keep a close look on this one in case we can use this explosion in our favor."

Leia placed a hand on her chin, her wrinkles seeming deeper and deeper the longer the war lasted. "Even if we don't stay on base, and Rey is able to sense the changes within Nyehus, we would still have to mobilize part of our troops here. And 10 seconds is still too little time for her to sense such a thing and for our ships to escape, Commander."

"I can do it."

Finn whipped his head around and sputtered, "Rey-"

Rey had spent an entire year reading books and not much else. She saw the hopelessness in her friends' faces, and the fear spreading in the galaxy. She saw how, even if they wouldn't say it, they all waited on her.

And the girl herself had waited and waited to find her place in all of that, and now there was an opportunity. Rey knew she could meditate and focus on the star. If it was possible to sense Sanah's light, darkness, the living things, and everything in between, it was possible to sense its sun. She had already felt Nyehus without even trying. All that was needed was to figure out the right time for their attack.

She pressed her lips in a thin line. "If we evacuate the base earlier, leaving only essential personnel, we can still make it look like they've found us. We lure them in and stay with our ships in orbit above planet, so when they arrive they will attack us first and won't notice there's no one on the base. We leave all Resistance ships with a pre-calculated destination for the hyperspace jump, so when the time comes, and it's close to the explosion, we will be ready to escape, but the First Order won't." She looked at the technicians. "A hyperspace jump would be faster than the explosion, am I correct?"

"Yes." Tom answered scratching his chin.

Everyone looked at her in varying states of wonder, from sheer excitement coming from Poe to utter worry rolling off in waves from Finn.

"I don't want to state the obvious," Rose interjected, "But if you can feel there's something wrong with the sun, can't Kylo Ren feel it too?"

Before Rey could reply, Leia spoke for her:

"He wouldn't join the first team that intercepts our signal," she answered too quickly, then paused. "If we follow Commander Dameron's plan, we would have to release a decoy signal, and they would then call a survey team. Once they confirm we are here they would call all units close to our location. But they won't put their…" she cleared her throat, "Supreme Leader in harm's way again unless necessary. Snoke didn't direct his ship to battle until needed, and it still cost his life. They won't risk another leadership change that destabilizes their ranks."

"But, we can still do a lot of damage if we have enough time and they call for backup." Poe smirked, "We could get to General Huggs."

Everyone in the room exchanged looks again. The plan still needed a few adjustments, and the crew needed time to get used to the madness of it. But they all agreed on one conclusion.

It wasn't impossible.

That was then.

Rey closed her eyes at the memory. She inhaled deeply, allowing the smell of oil and metal to fill her senses. She hit the power switch.

"Are you sure you don't want me to pilot?" Poe asked from his seat beside her, one eyebrow raised.

Rey swallowed hard and focused on the view ahead of her. "Don't worry, you'll have your fun later. For now," she looked at the control panel, "I just need something to do with my hands."

Their U-wing was one of the oldest ships available in the Resistance fleet, but it had everything the duo needed: a cloaking device, a hyperdrive, and discretion. And, much to Poe's dismay, discretion was key since they were the only ones in the mission not assigned to blow things up.

Discretion and also silence so Rey could concentrate. So much silence, in fact, that he was forced to part from his usual companion, BB-8, and leave him with Leia. The General, in turn, left C-3PO and R2 with Chewie so she wouldn't lose her sanity around so many impertinent droids.

But, despite his passion for adventure and his love for BB-8, the best pilot of the Resistance had the responsibility of aiding and protecting their best asset when she would be too occupied to do it herself.

As they rose above ground, he hunched his shoulders and he mumbled, "I hope I don't have too much fun."

At 7:47 Standard Time they were in Sanah's orbit. In 13 minutes, they'd release a poorly covered distress signal and wait for the First Order to take the bait. Rey had sensed the sun core change for a second time four days prior, which meant they were likely witnessing Nyehus' last day. Should anything go wrong - from the core changing too quickly or too slowly - all the remaining Resistance ships would jump to hyperspace to their calculated destination: a middle point between Sanah and their intended base.

Knowing their adversary could still have the technology to track them through hyperspace, they took all measures necessary to ensure the safety and secrecy of their other bases.

Rey turned off the lights onboard and turned on their cloaking device. She took a deep breath and watched the darkness of space, their ally ships moving to their designated places, and the beige-green tones of Sanah. Then there was the sun. That blood-red crackling sphere looming above them was a scary view as it was, but even more terrifying now that they knew the secrets it kept.

Its bright orange flames reflected on Poe's brown eyes. "You ready?" he asked.

She looked at him and nodded. The Jedi stood up and motioned to the pilot seat.

"All yours," she said.

He stared at it for a moment, his chest rose and fell before he flopped on the chair. All his muscles were rigid as he watched the space in front of them.

"I'll be ready."

"I'm counting on it," she replied before heading to the rear of the ship.

She looked around at the available seats, unable to decide on one. Rey then just grabbed a pillow and dropped it on the floor. By the time she sat on it, Leia's voice rang from the comms through the ship informing them that it was 8:00 and their decoy had been transmitted.

There wasn't much to do now other than meditate and wait for the others to perform their roles as she performed hers. So, Rey just crossed her legs and closed her eyes.

Everything was hesitant in the Force. She felt the space and the emptiness within it, Sanah and the life forms it carried, each spaceship the Resistance had in orbit and the people inside them, and finally, the sun.

Once she focused on Nyehus, she let go of everything else. She listened to its death song, one that was now familiar after she took over a year to study, memorize, and understand it. Every day she had reached for it until she could distinguish its general restlessness from the moments when it changed completely, first once, then twice. Now Rey waited for the third time it would change. The last time before it died.

The young woman released a breath. It was different now, the song. Ever since the newest shift, desperation clawed at her insides whenever she came in touch with it, but she couldn't release her grasp. The plan and the lives of everyone that took part in it depended on her focus.

Minutes or hours went by, she couldn't tell, but she didn't move. Not until she felt something. Not the fiery star, but new life forms appearing in the Force. At first just a few blinking lights, but then more, and more, and more until a sea surrounded them.

She forced herself to ignore them. A prickle of sweat ran from her forehead to her chin, but she didn't acknowledge it. There wasn't time to feel, to speak, or even think the obvious.

The First Order had taken the bait.

A war was about to start, but it wasn't her or Poe's concern. It wasn't their job. Others would fight while she would stay there and be ready to warn them when it was time to run. And Poe would be her eyes, ears, and pilot while she shut herself off from the world. Rey just focused on the sun's presence and lost track of time again.

By the time more life forms sparked in the Force again, her face was drenched in sweat from both the effort and the increasing heat the sun emanated. Rey would only allow herself to break concentration when she transmitted the escape signal, but she gave herself a moment to think something must have gone right. They had called for backup.

Which meant she had also only one moment to wish those backups didn't include their Supreme Leader.

As if on cue, a known pressure in the Force pushed and pulled and her eardrums vibrated with an echoing. Rey blocked it with all her will, and a gasp escaped her lips as she fought to concentrate on the solar fusion while also keeping him out.

The Force had the worst timing.

But something was odd. Rey tilted her head and wrinkled her glistening forehead with her eyes shut. Their connection wasn't an accident this time. It was as if there was a door in the middle of their bond, and he was slamming on it.

She didn't know what was happening, but she knew one thing: if she saw him at that moment and broke her concentration, everyone in their system was going to die.

Rey pulled the handle on the other side, not allowing him to open it. Her jaw hurt from clenching it, the pain radiating into her teeth, and she tasted blood on her tongue. For a while she was able to stay in control of the situation despite the excruciating pain. That is, until a blaster fired.

The Jedi opened her eyes at once and stood up. Hyperventilating, she zeroed in on the figure in front of her.

"Ben?" It slipped before she stopped herself.

He was huddled on the floor, hands hidden somewhere around his abdomen and under his black cloak. The Supreme Leader looked ahead of himself, and Rey could only see his profile, but his long hair was disheveled and falling over his eyes. It fluttered with every deep breath he released through his nose, and he glared at something in front of him with gritted teeth.

Something was wrong.

Part of her recalled that things should indeed be wrong on his side; that was what they wanted. Even if she, personally and secretly, wished he was nowhere near the Resistance or their secret weapon. But she dismissed that idea along with all her logic.

Without as much as a second thought, her chest turned to ice, muddling her senses until she could barely register the steps approaching her as she yelled, "Ben!".

An alarm rang, red lights flashed, and Ben's eyebrow furrowed.

"Ben?" Poe's voice asked beside her.

Her bottom lip quivered, and she bit it, staring at the Supreme Leader. "Something is not right."

The alarms roared louder. Ben looked around then stood up, dropping his hands to his sides. There didn't seem to be any blood on him and he seemed to be unharmed, to Rey's relief. He finally looked at her, his shoulders sagged as he panted.

"Yeah." Poe chuckled sharply and waved his hands around. "Something is not right, alright. You dropped your Jedi…thing!"

The pilot scrunched his eyebrows together at her more-than-intense stare at the spaceship wall ahead of her.

"He's not here. Rey, he's not here," he said, hoping to get through to her, despite her trance-like state.

"Ben, what is happening?" she asked, ignoring her friend. The Jedi knew it didn't make any sense, that the obvious conclusion was that he had come there to be caught up in their scheme. But she knew, she knew that wasn't it.

The wrinkles on Poe's forehead deepened. A flash of light blazed through the ship forward viewport, reflecting bright yellow on his face. He turned to look at a dreadnought crashing right in front of them.

Rey remained staring at her bondmate. He stared back, his breathing loud to her even with the sirens.

"Whatever your plan is, I suggest you run," Ben said. "They will find you."

She jerked her head back. Out of everything that could have come out of his mouth, she didn't expect that. "I'm not going to run."

The corner of his lips twitched in a hint of a smirk, but he was gone before a reply came.

Rey blinked, then looked at Poe with her heart in her throat. "Is our cloaking device still active?"

He tilted his head, "Wha-"

Their ship shook, making them both fall to the floor. The pilot propped himself up on his elbows, squinting around as Rey groaned.

"This isn't good." He stood up at once and darted to the cockpit.

Another shot exploded on the right side of their ship as Poe pushed more and more buttons. Of course that stupid ancient thing would pick that moment to have a cloaking system failure, among other things.

He shook his head. "This isn't good…this isn't good."

A blast of pain suddenly pierced Rey's lungs to the point that she almost vomited. It was just what she needed to bring her back to the present, because she was as distracted as she could be before.

As a wave of death and fear engulfed her senses, she croaked out, "Poe, now."

"What?" He turned to her while catching his breath.

"The sun." She gasped and clutched her chest. "Now!"

His eyes widened, and he opened all communication channels with a flick of his finger, "Phase 9 is a go, I repeat Phase 9 is a go." His voice wavered as he closed his hand around the hyperdrive lever. "If you were asleep during the meetings, that means the sun is about to blow."

The ship shuddered violently with one more blast as Rey reckoned that was yet another day her bond with Ben caused her trouble. She chewed the inside of her cheek, as she remembered that time was of the essence and she could have gotten them all killed with her distraction.

But worst of all, even though Ben Solo was the cause of so many of her distresses, including this very war and the near death experience they were living, she was completely distraught not knowing what was happening on his side.

"Don't worry about it." Poe said as if reading her mind, or maybe just her sour expression. "We aren't behind schedule."

He puffed his chest and, as they watched several Resistance ships disappear in rays of light, he pulled the hyperdrive lever.

And nothing happened.

The pilot stared at that rusty piece of metal with utter betrayal written on his face. They both then looked ahead, the sun brightening to a terrifying shade.

Their spaceship suddenly jolted and all remaining lights went dark as the control panel turned off.

Poe gazed at the ceiling, with his throat so tight he could only croak a shaky, "I have a bad feeling about this."

Rey was about to speak out loud their shared fear, that they were going to die along with whatever First Order ship had just apprehended them.

But, then, they jumped to hyperspace.

A/N: *nervous laughter* hi, so how is everyone doing? Good? Good?

I was going to add a lot of curiosities (just curiosities!) about the research I had to do for this story but I realized the too big notes might freak some people out ;)

So I'm just going to say this: YES i read astrophysics articles and videos about the subject; yes I interchanged the terms supergiant and giant even tho they are (very) different because for people that don't know the subject supergiant would sound weird at first; and YES there are a thousand variables (mass loss, star rotation, heat change, volume change, color change) I didn't comment or considered for the story or I'd go INSANE and but I'm pretty sure the Star Wars movies don't either.

And believe me i tried to be the LESS technical possible so I wouldn't bore you. I just had to add the important parts so you'd understand their plan

Alright see you soon, byebye!